Today's edition of Le Parisien says that 40 percent of
France's ATMs are empty - while I topped up a bit of cash
from my usual ATM.

The employers' offered 'bonus' has now risen to 3000
francs for this year and 4800 for next, with an offer of
bullet-proof vests thrown in. Negotiations are expected to
continue tomorrow. Cash machines are also expected to be
empty tomorrow too.

Police Arrest Dozens

Combined police forces specializing in serious crime
arrested 21 suspects between the time of the Nanterre
hold-up on Friday and last Tuesday.

Some of the suspects arrested in the Paris area were
characterized as 'very dangerous.' A rented garage was
found to contain an arsenal and a hide-out in the 15th
revealed a cache with a rocket-launcher, five
machine-pistols, four assault rifles, six hand-grenades and
a dozen assorted pistols.

Police also recovered 300,000 francs worth of
counterfeit money, and two stolen paintings. Questioning of
the suspect captured after the Nanterre hold-up on Friday
has had no result.

France's Monsoons

Paris got off pretty easily last Thursday when
monsoon-like downpours drenched the city in the afternoon.
Accompanied with thunder and hail, streets were turned into
rivers and métro traffic was halted on some lines
for short periods.

All the same, the Musée d'Orsay was closed on
Friday due to a flooded cellar that had caused the
electricity within the building to fail.

On the Quai du Louvre outside the club's café,
rain was so heavy at times that the opposite side of the
Seine was invisible. For drivers on the quay, it was like
commuting through a car-wash.

But when the highly unstable weather front bumped into
the cooler air near the channel, the weather took a
devastating turn for the worse. On one day the Calais area
was hard hit and two towns west and northwest of Rouen were
nearly completely wrecked and at least two people were
killed.

On the way to the club last Thursday, before
it started to rain hard.

The mayor of Barentin likened the storm to a
bombardment, which swept his town away. About two-thirds of
May's normal rainfall fell on the town in 30 minutes. A
two-metre high wave in the town centre hurled cars around
like ping-pong balls after a underground water drain
exploded.

At the same time throughout France, lightening was
recorded on Wednesday striking the earth 20,000 times.
Since the beginning of the month, lightning impacts have
averaged 10,000 per day.

Temperatures continue to remain about five degrees above
normal - which would be about right for
mid-July.

Conscription's Last Gasp

Technically, conscription into the armed forces no
longer exists in France. For those born after 1. January
1979, military service consists of one day of 'orientation'
and it is mainly used by the armed forces for a bit of PR,
and to detect illiterates.

But for 300,000 young men born before 1. January 1979,
conscription is still very real. These
are in their early 20s and many of them are students.
Others have been lucky enough to find their first
jobs.

This old bar recently re-opened, with the
optimistic name of 'Tour d'Argent.

They find the arbitrary date to be unfair, because all
conscription will end on 31. December 2002. However, the
armed forces are seeking to recruit 150,000 men and
strenuous PR efforts are not bringing in enough
volunteers.

Some of those affected are writing their theses and
others have just come out of high-tech schools and landed
in go-go Internet jobs. Ten months out of their lives right
now could be a personal disaster.

On Saturday, 2-3000 demonstrated on the Champ de Mars.
Some are organized into a collective - named 'SN' for 'sans
nous.'

Sports News

Short and to the point: Paris own football club, PSG,
gained entry to some important championship round sometime
in the future by scoring two goals against their opponent's
two scored goals.

In France a tie is usually referred to as a 'match nul'
but in PSG's case, it was a major victory, according to Le
Parisien. I hope so, but it doesn't sound very
exciting.

French Web Life: Another Week's Short
Version

Paris' Peace Wall, Still

The URL for Paris' Peace Wall on the Champ de Mars is:
'Mur Pour la
Paix,' which is a Dot-Com and not a Dot-Org. You can
also learn how to read the word 'peace' in 31
languages.